Children believe handwriting is still important

The future of written documents appears to be in safe hands, after 91 per cent of the UK's children declared the skill as either 'important' or 'very important.'

Published:13:00Saturday 30 April 2016

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The future of nice and neat written documents appears to be in safe hands with the majority of children believing the skill is still either important or very important.

Statistics from National Stationery Week, which took place last week, has revealed the vast majority of eight to 15 year-olds feel the ability to write by hand is a pre-requisite in life.

National Stationery Week produced the statistics through a nationwide YouGov survey, which questioned more than 500 children about the importance of handwriting.

Their instincts appear to be correct too, after 86 per cent of employers said that they would be more likely to take on a candidate if they received a handwritten application letter alongside a CV.

Seven-days of pen and paper based festivities began last Monday, celebrating the written word and all things stationery.

National Stationery Week aims is to get people all over the world talking and writing about stationery, and why writing by hand is important.

In addition, it attempts to create enough awareness to stimulate people to send more letters and cards - and not just text or email.

National Stationery Week founder Chris Leonard-Morgan said he was reassured by the survey results, which maintains his faith in handwriting being of critical importance in society.

He said: “To see that so many youngsters place such a high value on handwriting is really encouraging.

“To then read that employers place a big emphasis on receiving hand-written letters of application validates the opinions of our younger generation.

“With the arrival of smart phone technology and iPad offerings, there is certainly more mediums out there that negates the need to write letters and notes, but we have never thought that such technology would ever make it obsolete.

“We are living in a digital age, but we still believe that handwriting is as relevant as ever and it is great that the views of children – and employers – reflect this.”